The cities of San Francisco and Oakland in California are suing a group of the world’s largest oil companies over the role they have played in climate change. The two suits claim that the group, which includes Chevron, BP, ExxonMobil and Shell, produced greenhouse gases that have led to a sea level rise and did so knowledgeably.
The suits demand compensation for costs associated to flooding and property damage, including the cost of significantly upgrading coastal defences.
The suits allege that the oil companies launched PR campaigns to discredit scientific evidence pointing towards their culpability in climate change and that they have known since the 1980s the damage that greenhouse gases cause.
